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PATENTED EEB.'16, 1904.

A. STUCKI. nooE OPERATING DEVICE EOE HOEEEE GARS.

fNo. 752,310;

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 21, 1903.

no MODEL.

No. 752,310. PATBNTBD FEB. 16,1904. A. STUGKI.

- "110011 OPERATING DEVICE POR HOPPBR GARS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 21, 1903.

3 SHEETS-BHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

I lmmntoz we@ 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

PATENTD PBO. 16, 1904.

l A. STOOKL DOOR OPERATING DEVICE POR HOPPER-OARS.

n APPLICATION IFILBDAUG. Z1, 1903.

in. l'7l-527,310.

No MODEL.

www;

- UNITED NSTAJIES y Patented February 16, 1904;-

PATENT FEICE.

ARD STEEL CAR COMPANY, l RATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Doon-oPEnA-'me DEVICE Foe Heesen-cass.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 752,310,'dated Fehmary Application filed August 21, 1903. Serial No. 170,330. (No model.)

To all, whom it may concern: j 4 Be it knownthat I, AnNoLD S'rooxz, a resident of Ailgheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inDoor-Operating Devices for Hopper-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof. l My invention relates to door-operating mechanism for use on hopper-cars and the like; and the object of the invention is to provide operatingmechanism for this purpose so constructed that the lower edge of the doors will travel in a comparatively straight line, thus permitting the hoppers of the car to be ybuilt closer down to the track and also permit ting the doors to be placed closer together and decreasing the Awidth and height of the cross- I ridge and correspondingly'increasing the cubical contents f the car.

A further object of my invention is to provide door-operating mechanism which will enab e the lower edges of the doors to be brought much closer together in opening the same than heretofore, thereby increasing the dischargeopening. l

In hopper-carsfor coal, coke, ore,. and the like it is very desirable to have as large a cubical capacity as possible without unnecessarily increasing the height, Width, and length of. the car. As a consequence the hopperbottoms should be brought Vas low downas possible. With swinging doors, however, a diiiculty is encountered because the lower `edges of the doors4 swing on the are of a cirf cle, thereby rendering them liable to. comeV into contact with thel track if the hopper is placed low down. This has made it necessaryV to place the hopper higher up than would otherwise be necessary. .This diiliculty hasbeen attempted to be overchme by using horizontal .doors swinging on linksA or the like and located .very close tothe track, thus increasing' the cubical' capacity' of the car. Thediiiculty. with such doors, however, is that such doors inust be pulled or slid alongthe lading, and during' the winter season they willfreeze fast to the lading and cannot. be'easily opened.

This difficulty of freezing is not encountered with pivotally-swinging or hingeddoors, as they swing away from the lading instead of sliding past'the same, so that they can he readily opened even if frozen to the lading.'

The object of my invention is to use such swinging doors and to, so mount the same and arrange the operating mechanismtherefor that the hoppers can be placed comparatively low down, v

To this en d the' invention consists, generally speaking, in so Ahing'ing the doors that they will I not only swing on their axes, but

will'also nieve transversely with referencethereto and in providing in connection with the doors so hinged. suitable links which will give to the same a somewhat parallel` movement, so that the lower edges of the doors will travel in a comparatively straight line'.

The invention also consists in a guide for the operating mechanism which is arranged to strengthen and stili'en the cross-ridge plates and also form a bearing for the winding-shaft,

as well as in certain details of construction, such as adjusting means for the door-.operating links, to adapt the sameA to various cars,

and various other details which will hereinaf ter be specically described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l` is I a cross-section through a portion of a hoppery car with my invention applied thereto, showing therdoors closed. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the doors in process of opening.V Fig. 3 vis a view taken transversely of vthe ca`r and through the hopper-ridge. Fig. 4 is a Section on the line 4 4, Fig. l. Fig. 5 isa detail sectionalview of the guide and links. Fig. 6 shows details of the corners of the dgors, and Fig. 7 is a side Vview of the inner end of one of the toggle-links.

` The car-body may be of any suitable construction and in the drawings 'only a small part thereof has been shown. In the drawings the center sill is shown at 1 and the car sident 2, the latter being strengthened ntf-its bottom by the angle-rail 3. i represents the cross-ridge plates, which may be of the usual or any preferred construction. They are connected to the car sides by means of a gussetably will be arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and' 2-that is, s6 as'to swing in opposite directions and toward each other. Preferably, also, they will be arranged in pairs-that is, one on each side of the center sills-the doors of each being connected by means of a suitable transverse beam, such as the Z-bar 11. Each door is provided with an integral ange 12 at its upper edge, while the two side edges are stiiened by means of sections of'angle-bar 13 riveted thereto, and the Z-bar beam 11 forms a stiiening member for the lower edge of these doors. A At each of the lower corners is riveted a small piece of angle bar 14 for strengthening the same. At the upper corners of the door are applied angle-brackets 15, which are riveted to the flanges 12 and 13, thus serving to strengthen the corners of the door. These angle-brackets are provided with one member of the hinge, said member being shown as an arm 16, provided with a pintle 17. The hinge-butts 18 are secured directly to the lower edges of the cross-ridge plates 4, said edges being stiiened or strengthened by means of Z-bars 19.

In order to permit the parallel movement of the door lheretofore described, the hinge. connection is such as to permit also a move-V ment of the door transversely of its axis. This can be accomplished in various ways, but most conveniently by providing the hingebutts 18 with slots 20, in which the hinge-pintles 17 move, so that in the opening of the door these pintles, together with the door, can move upwardly, as shown in the drawings, whereas when the doors are in a closed position the lower ends of the slots act in the ordi` nary way of the usual hinge-butt.

The door-operating mechanism comprises a pair of toggledinks 22, having their outer ends pivotallyl connected to the lower edges ofthe door, and in order to adaptl the device to variations which naturally exist between l dilierent cars these toggleflinks are made ad:-

justable in length. This may be accomplished in various ways, and, as shown in the draw# ings, said links are provided with ends 23, which are separate from the bodies thereof and screw into sockets in the latter, these ends being provided at their outer ends with jaws which are pivotally connected to ears secured to the doors. To the inner orknuck'le ends of' these toggle-links is connected suitable,

means for raising and lowering the same. This means may be of various forms, which stien the latter.

are well known to those skilled in the art, that shown in the drawings comprising a rack-bar 25, connected to the knuckle-joint of the toggleelinks and extending upwardly and engaged by a pinion 26 on the transverse operating shaft 27. To insure the movement of this 'knuckle 'in a practically straight line and to 4make both doors move 'the same amount at any time, Iprovide a suitable guide therefor, this guide consisting of a forging, stamping, or casting 28, having two parallel legs, each of which is provided with a groove 29, into which grooves the ends of the pin 30 of the knucklejoint project, Vso that said joint is guided thereby. This guide has its upper end enlarged laterally and secured to the crossridge plates 4, thus serving to strengthen and A lateral brace 31 has one end secured to the car sides and its opposite end secured to the guide 28 near the lower end of the latter, thus bracing the latter. In this guide is also formed a bearing 32 for holding the rack-bar 25 against the pinion 26. The operating-shaft 27 is also mounted in this guide and extends to the sides of lthe car, where it is provided with the usual means for operating the same, as well as a ratchet 33 and pawl for holding it in position. A single operating-shaft, it will be observed, serves to operate all four of the doors of the hopper.

In order to cause the doors to move upwardly when swinging open, supplemental links 35 are provided,'these links having their outer ends pivotally connected to the togglelinks 22 near the middle of the latter-that is,

at the point 36-and having their inner ends pivotally secured to any suitable support, preferably to the lower end of the guide 28.

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The inner ends of these links preferably have pivotal studs 3'? formed integral therewith,A

which studs are mounted in openings in the lower end of the guide 28, said studs being.

provided with U-shaped depressions 38 on their upper faces, as shown .in Fig. 4, in order to permit the knuckle-pin 30`to assume its proper position when thel doors are closed. When the knuckle-joint of the toggle-links is raised, as shown in Fig. 2, these supplemental links swing around their pivots and raise the doors andeause their hinged pintels to slide upwardlyl'ii--the slots 20 in the 'hinge-butts. This'causesthe lower edge of the door to move in a comparatively straight line and prevents the same from swinging downwardly as far as with old types of swinging doors. l I .The rack-bar 25 when elevated naturally projects up into the body of the car, and in order to relieve it of the resistance of the lading a suitable guide-channel 39 is provided therefor, this guide-channel being shown of general trough-form,' closed at its upper edge and riveted to the gusset-plate 5 of the crossridge. A

It willbe remily understood that with my door-ppeiating mechanism the lower edge of the door is held farther above the rails than with the ordinary pivoted doors, and as a consequence the hoppers can be lowered to the extent of this distance, thereby increasing the cubi cal capacity of the car. The operating mechanism furthermore is very compact and permits the two oppositely-arranged doors to he placed very close together, thus enabling the use of a comparatively narrow and low Io cross-ridge, which further increases the cubical capacity of the car. Furthermore, the operating means permits the 'lower edges vof the doors to swing close together, thus increasing the discharge-opening and acilitating the unloading of the car.

While my invention has been shown applied to doors arranged transversely of the car, it is evident that the invention might be applied equally as well to doors arranged longitudinally of the car and even to doors other than car-doors oreven to those arranged on a vertica-l axis. No limitations are thereforetobe y'imposed on the terms of the claimsv h vthe.v

speciiic illustration.

secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a door forcars and the like, the-com bination with a door, of hinges therefor arranged to permit movement of the door transversely to its axis, and guiding-links connected to said door and arranged to cause the same to move in a somewhat parallel plane.

2. In door-operating mechanism, the combination of a hinged door, o' hinges therefor 3 5 arranged to permit movement of the door transversely of its axis, a link pivotallg7 connected at Y one end to said door, a guide in' which the opposite end of said link moves,

and means for moving said last-named end in 40 said guide.

3. In door-operating mechanism, the combination of a hinged door, hinges therefor comprising cooperating slots and pins Wherehy the door may move transversely of its axis,

a link pivoted at one end to said door, a guide in Which the opposite end of said link moves,l

and means for moving said last-named end in said guide.

4. In door-operating mechanism, the combination of a hinged door, hinges thereorarranged to permit movement of the door transverscly of its axis, an operating-link pivotally connected at one end to said door, aguide l in which the opposite end of said link moves,-

means for vmoving said lastfnamed end in said guide, a supplemental link having one end' pivotally connected to said operating-link, and a suitable support to which the opposite vend of said supplemental link is pivotally con- Y 6D nected.

. In door-operating mechanism, the comhination of a hinged door, hinges therefor' comprising cooperating pinsand slots wherethe door is permitted to move transversely 6E ot axis, an operating-link pivotallyr conaxes in opening and closing.

LAand pins whereby said doors can move trans- What I claim as my invention, and desire to "versely of their axes, toggle-links pivotally 7. In door-operating mechanism, the com- 8o bination with oppositely-swinging doors, of hinges therefor arranged to permit movement of the doors transversely of their axes, togglelinks pivotally connected to said 'door-s, and means for moving the' knuckle of said links to open and close the doors.

8, In door-operating mechanism, the com' bination With oppositely-swinging. doors, of hinges'therefor comprising cooperating slots for moving the knuckle of said toggle-linkstoA Ioo open and close the doors, supplemental links each having one endpivotally connected'to one of the toggle-links, and a suitablesupport to which the opposite end of each of said links is pivotally connected. 10. In door-operating mechanism, the combination with oppositely-swinging doors, of hinges therefor comprising cooperating slots and pins whereby the doors are permitted to move transversely of their axes, toggle-links pivotally connected to said doors, means for moving the knuckle of said toggle-links toI open and close the doors, supplemental links each having one end pivotally connected to one of the toggle-links, and a suitable support .to

IIO

which the opposite end of each of said supple'-,

mental links is pivotally connected. i

1l. In door-operating mechanism, the combination with oppositely-swinging doors, of hinges therefor arranged to permit movement of the doors transversely of their axes, togglelinks pivotally connected to said doors, a guide in which the knuckle-joint of 'said links moves, and means for moving said knuckle-joint i-n said guide to open and close the doors.

12.l In door-operating mechapism,the comi bination withbppositely-swinging doors of hinges therefor arranged to permit movement of the doors laterally of the axes thereof, to

gle-links pivotallgrcennected4 to said doorsra" 30v :3o y connected to'said doors,a guide for the knuckle guide in which the knuckle of said toggle-links moves, means for moving said knuckle to open andlclose the doors, supplemental links each having one end pivotally connected to one of said toggle-links, and a suitable 'support' to which the opposite end of each of said supplemental links is pivotally connected.

13. In door-operating mechanism, the combination with oppositely-swinging doors, of hinges therefor comprising coperating slots and pins whereby the doors are permitted to move transversely of their axes, togglelinks pivotally connected to said doors, a guide in which the knuckle of said toggle-links moves,-l means fory moving said knuckle in said guide,

and a pair of "supplemental links each having v one end pivotally connected to a toggle-link and having its opposite end pivotally connected tol saidv guide. 14. In a hopper-car, the'cornbination with the ridge-plates, of oppositely-swinging doors l hinged to the lower edges of sa1d plates,;a pair of toggle-links connectedto said doors, a guide for the knuckle of said links, means. for raising and lowering said knuckle, and a lateral brace secured to the car-bodyl and to saidV guide. A

15. In a hopper-'can the combination with Athe rid ge-plates, of oppositely-swinging doors;

hinged to said plates, a pairof toggle-links of. said links, said guide-being secured tothe' ,ridge-plates, a rack connected to the knuckle of said links, and a pinion journaled in said guide and engaging said rack.

16. .In a hopper-car, the combination with connected to the knuckle of said toggle, a pinion engaging said rack, and a guide-channel for4 said rack projecting. in the body of the car.

A 17.l In a hopper-car, the combination with the cross.; ridge, of a strengthening gussetplate therefor,oppositely-swinging doors, tog" gle-links connected to said doors, a rack connected to said -toggles'ior operating the same, and a guide-channel for 'said rack connected to the gusset-plate;

18. In a hopper-car, the combination of a hinged door, operating means therefor, and brackets secured at `theupper corners of said doox ','said brackets being provided with one member of the hinges and being of angle Ashape and serving as cornersbraces.

19. In a hopper-car, the combination of a hinged door, flanges on theedges of said door, and brackets secured to the door-flanges at the'upper corners and being provided with one member of the hinges. v

In testimony whereof I, the said ARNOLD STUUKI, have hereunto set my hand.

A ,ARNOLD s'rUoKI.

' Witnesses: g

ROBERT C. Torres, jG. Kennen.'

I the cross-ridge, of oppositely-swinging doors, l.toggle-links connected to said doors, a rack 

